Updates from Perak...

Now, now, now... if you had actually clicked on this link hoping to read my take about the recent political fiasco in Perak.... SORRY, WRONG NUMBER! All I can say on that issue is.. I think next time I may want to vote for Party Tupperware lah!

You see, I stay in Ipoh, and as such, any updates coming from me on whatever matters (even personal matters) are still updates from Perak, aren't they? :)

Well, anyway, my updates this time, as per most of my blog postings, are related to my NGO work.

1. Sharifah contacted me as promised. She wanted to know if we Buddies provide temporary shelter for people like her. She needs shelter temporarily when she delivers. While her mother is willing to take care of her at home, her father is a different story altogether. To him Sharifah had brought shame to the family. Sharifah herself wants to avoid the embarrassment her family may face. Since we don't have shelter homes, I told her we can help find a suitable shelter home for her. Sharifah also asked if it is possible for her to go for follow-ups at her hometown but still deliver her baby in Ipoh. She will still need to get referral letters from Ipoh GH for that purpose, so I told her to come to Ipoh for her next appointment, which is next week, and we'd try to get things settled then. Hopefully by then, I will be able to find a suitable home for her.

2. Yah sent me a text message on Monday. Her mother passed away on Sunday - Mother's Day.

3. Mrs K called me yesterday. She and Mr K were in Ipoh to apply for various financial help for their daughter's coming operation in IJN. She asked how to go about applying for her EPF withdrawal (for medical purposes). I told her the best people to ask would be the EPF people themselves. They already know where the EPF office is, so I told her to go there and get the necessary forms. Later in the afternoon, she sent me a text message, telling me that it is so difficult to apply for the EPF withdrawal because they'd need to come up with a medical report from the doctor. Duh! You want to withdraw for medical purposes, surely they'd need a medical report?! And remember I asked for the bank account number of the bus operator who takes Mrs K's children to school? Well, according to Mrs K, the bus operator told her he didn't have any account number as he is working on his own. I was still rather reluctant to give cash to Mrs K for reasons stated earlier. They may for this one time pay the money to the bus operator, but what about future bus fares? So I replied to Mrs K, telling her that the bus operator must have at least a personal savings account, unless he keeps all his money under his pillow! I was not asking for a company or business bank account. I told her if she can't get his account number, then give me his full name, so we can write him a cheque for the monthly bus fares. Later at night, I got another SMS from Mrs K, this time with the name and bank account number of the bus driver. Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?

4. SN called me from the HIV clinic this morning. Today being the second Wednesday of the month, we don't have any of our volunteers at the clinic to provide support service. But there was one case of a poor single mother with 4 kids who needed help, so SN called me up. I had some work at the office and so I couldn't go to the hospital to meet up with this lady. So I took down her contact particulars and also told SN to give her my number. I hope to be able to meet up with this lady soon to assess her situation.

5. I went to visit Lin today. 2 of her children are under our Sponsorship Programme. One of them, Rahim, will be 14 tomorrow. His sponsor had sent me some money to buy a birthday gift for the boy. So yep, I bought him a present based on what Lin had been telling about the boy's likes and dislikes...

Inside the box?

An MP3/MP4 player.

Lin was at her pisang goreng stall, so I took the opportunity to visit her at the stall. Usually I'd visit her at home. No, I didn't bring along any bananas this time, as the ones at home are not ripe enough. Maybe next time.

Anyway, Lin was quite busy at her stall, which means business is okay. I told her to continue frying the bananas and cokodok, while I ordered a drink for myself from the stall she's sharing with. Lin told me that her daughter's school had already asked for an additional fee that needed to be paid. She was thinking of sending me a text message tonight, to inform me about it. But since I went to serah diri, there is no need for her to do that now. I took down the amount, and told her I'd bank in the money into her bank account, as usual.

As we were chatting, a young girl in school uniform came over, offering her hands to salam. It was Marlia, Lin's youngest daughter, who just came back from school.

I didn't stay too long as I didn't want to disturb Lin in her business. But just as I was entering my car, I saw Marlia running over to me. Apparently she was just informed by her school teacher that they'd need to pay RM80 ASAP for a motivational programme for the school's UPSR students. The programme is next week, and they'd need to pay by this week. Well, that amount can easily be covered with her sponsorship money since it is related to her education, so I decided to give my money first and later claim from my NGO.

Ah well, my mission was to pass the birthday present to Lin (Rahim was in school, so I couldn't pass it to him personally). Mission accomplished, and in addition, I also managed to settle some other sponsorship matters. Perfect timing to pay them a visit, I must say.